Flat article dispenser



1965 H. A. HOLZWARTH ETAL 3,215,309

FLAT ARTICLE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 5, 1963 United States Patent 3,215,309FLAT ARTICLE DISPENSER Henry A. Holzwarth, Bayside, PeterSchladerrnundt,

Bronxville, and John D. Wark, Freeport, N.Y., assignors to Philip MorrisIncorporated, New York, N.Y., a

corporation of Virginia Filed Aug. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 299,751 Claims.(Cl. 221-2) The invention concerns a combined holder and dispenser forrelatively flat articles of a character adapted to be arranged in astack. The device is particularly advantageous as a magazine anddispenser for blades such as razor blades.

The dispenser includes a combination of parts wherein manual rotation ofan external button causes an inner cam to engage an end of the topmostarticle and cause it to be advanced through an ejection slot. Themechanism is particularly adapted to dispense successively one at a timerelatively thin articles such as razor blades, and to this end itembodies a main disc member rotatable from the manual button the bladestack being urged against an outer segment of the inner face of the discby a spring means and the disc having a cam means rotatable therewitharranged adjacent the inner face of the disc and, as the disc and camrotate, the outer area of the disc slides over the surface of thearticle but the cam engages the end of the article and pushes it out theslot. The arrangement ensures that the article pusher comprising the camengages the head of the article and does not slide by the end.

Various other advantageous features are associated with the articleactuating means in a compact but effective arrangement. These include anindicator means operably connected to be indexed forwardly step-by-stepwith the successive article dispensing operations, and an associatedviewing window whereby the number of articles dispensed or remaining inthe stack are readily determinable. There is also embodied a latchmechanism to prevent reverse manual rotation or at least to restrictreverse rotation to an angle less than the amount of rotation for adispensing operation and accordingly the successive dispensingoperations must each be effected in the same direction of rotation. Thelatch means is of a character which also serves to give an audible clickto indicate the completion of the dispensing of a single article.

Other features and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of arepresentative embodiment of the in vention as disclosed in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the complete dispenser;

FIG. 2 is a view looking upwardly at the cover of the container with theactuating mechanism mounted therein but with certain elements partiallybroken away;

FIG. 3 is a side view with the side wall next to the observer removed;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on substantially the plane44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the individual indicator dial;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an individual spring disc embodied inthe assembly; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the rotary disc and cam means attachedto the central shaft rotatably mounted in the top wall.

The device comprises a main casing which embodies a bottom rectangularbox section 10 having a bottom wall 11 and end walls 12 and 13, and apair of opposed side walls one of which is indicated at 14 in FIG. 4.The section 10 has mounted thereon a top wall member 15 which hassecured to its under surface a plate member 16 provided with a pair ofspaced ribs 17 adapted to serve as guides against which the topmostarticle of a stack 18 engages. The casing including plate 16 may be madeof any suitable material but conveniently is composed of plasticmaterial and the elements may be secured together in any suitable mannersuch as by adhesive or heat sealing. The stack of articles 18 is urgedupwardly by a suitable spring means such as the bent leaf strip 19whereby the topmost article 18a engages against the ribs 17 on the topWall. In the latter position, as best seen in FIGURE 4, the topmostarticle aligns or registers with article exit slot 20 formed in end wall12. As heretofore noted the device is adapted for the dispensing ofvarious types of articles but is of particular value in dispensingsafety razor blades which commonly are relatively thin and not easilyseparated and dispensed as single units.

The cover 15 carries the actuating means and includes a shaft 30rotatably mounted in the top wall 15 the outer end of the shaft havingsecured thereto a manually operable button 31 in the form of a discwhich may have a transverse rib 32 for convenient grasping with thefingers.

The inner end of the shaft 30 has secured thereon a disc 34 and formedintegral therewith, or secured immediately adjacent the disc, is a cammeans 35. The shaft 30 and the elements mounted thereon just describedmay be composed of plastic material and held assembled as for example bya cap screw at the lower end of the shaft or by mushrooming over thelower end by heat and pressure as indicated at 30a.

To one side of the shaft 30 is located a rotatable indicator disc 36mounted in a circular opening 37 in the cover 15 and the periphery ofthe disc 36 also extends into an arcuate shaped opening 38 in the uppersurface of the plate 16. The plate 16 also has an arc-shaped flangeportion 39 extending under a segment of the indicator dial 36. The disc36 has an operating connection with the shaft 30 whereby it is advanceda predetermined angle for each dispensing operation of the shaft 30 andthe cam means 35. This may be varied in character but in the presentcase it comprises a form of Geneva indexing means in which an element 41on the shaft 30 temporarily engages in a notch 42 in the disc 36 andindexes the disc an angle corresponding to that between the center linesof adjacent notches 42. As indicated in for example FIGS. 2 and 5 thenotches are formed in the inner surface of the disc 36 the upper surfacebeing unbroken.

Latch means are provided for restricting the reverse rotation of thedisc 34 which may be varied in character but in the present instance itcomprises a thin plate 45 of elastic material such as metal mountedconcentrically with the shaft 30 but held against rotation by meanscomprising in the present case a pair of radial ribs 46 struck upwardlyand adapted to engage in notches 47 in the under surface of the top wallmember 15. The spring plate 45 also has a bent lug 48 struck downwardlyfrom the under surface adapted to be engaged by notches 49 in the uppersurface of the disc 34.

The present mechanism is designed to eject a blade for each advance ofthe button 31 and the cam element 35, although this may be varied toeffect a dispensing operation for some lesser angle which is evenlydivisible into 360 or it may be designed to require one complete 360turn for the dispensing operation. Since in the device illustrated adispensing operation is to be accomplished in each 180 turn of the knob,the cam means 35 has two lobes as shown particularly in FIG. 7 andcorrespondingly the top surface of the disc 34 is provided with twonotches 49 arranged 180 apart. FIG. 4 shows the mechanism in the neutralposition between dispensing operations and accordingly the lug 48 on thespring disc 45 is engaged in a notch 49 in the disc 34.

FIG. 3 shows the dispensing mechanism turned 90 from that shown in FIG.4 with the top blade 18a projected from the casing and in this positionthe right half of the spring disc 45 is flexed upwardly with the latchmember 48 riding on the upper surface of the disc 34. As the rotationcontinues to the home position shown in FIG. 4 the spring latch member48 snaps into a notch 49 with an audible click indicating the completionof a dispensing operation. The mechanism is designed for clockwiserotation looking down on the device as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly thespring latch 48 on the disc 45 and the notch 49 in the upper surface ofdisc 34 are arranged so as to prevent counter clockwise rotation fromthe position of the parts shown in FIG. 4.

As heretofore noted the spring member 19 urges the stack of bladesupwardly with the right end in engagement with a segment on the undersurface of the disc 34. Accordingly upon rotation of the mechanism thelower surface of disc 34 moves freely over the surface of the top blade;but the corresponding lobe of cam 35 engages the inner end of the topblade 18a and the blade is held against flexing or distortion and thecam continues in engagement with the blade end to force it out the slot.The thickness of the cam member 35 corresponds of course to thethickness of a single blade.

The actuating means for the indicator disc 36 is arranged for operationin timed relation with the dispensing of a blade. Accordingly theelement 41 is adapted to engage in a notch 42 just prior to thecompletion of a dispensing operation and at the completion of adispensing operation the disc actuating means is as shown in the homeposition of FIGS. 2 and 4. Since as heretofore noted the device isadapted to perform a dispensing operation for each 180 turn of thebutton 31 and shaft 30, two effective elements 41 arranged diametricallyare required. Accordingly the elements 41 may be provided by a pinadapted to extend through a diametral hole in the shaft 30. Otheractuating elements for the disc 36 may be employed such as a pair ofpins extending upwardly from the disc 34 and spaced 180 apart.

The disc 36 has associated therewith indicator means including anarc-shaped viewing opening 50 formed in the top wall member and adjacentthereto suitable graduation marks such as the numbered marks 51 shown inFIG. 1. The upper surface of the disc 36 is prefer ably provided with areference mark such as indicated at 52 and also the area back of themark 52 may be given a distinctive appearance as indicated at 53, suchas being colored differently from the other parts. It will be apparentthat as the button 31 is successively rotated in the clockwise directionthe disc 36 will be indexed counter clockwise. FIG. 1 indicates by thecolored area 53 and the reference mark 52 that six blades remain in thecasing to be dispensed.

Since various changes may be made in the dispenser and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from theprinciple of the device it will be understood that all matter containedherein shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A dispenser for flat articles adapted to be arranged in a stackcomprising, an elongated substantially flat main casing adapted to holda stack of the articles, said casing having an article exit slot at oneend a shaft rotatably mounted in said casing, a manually rotatablebutton secured to said shaft externally of the casing for rotating saidshaft, a cam secured to said shaft internally of the casing androtatable therewith, said cam engaging an edge of the outermost articleat one side of said stack as it rotates for advancing said article outsaid slot, said button and cam being successively rotatable in the samedirection a predetermined angle to effect the advance and dispensing ofthe successive articles, and having a latch means arranged to restrictrotation of the button and cam in the reverse direction.

2. A dispenser for fiat articles adapted to be arranged in a stackcomprising, an elongated substantiallyfiat main casing adapted to hold astack of the articles, said casing having an article exit slot at oneend, a shaft rotatably mounted in said casing, a manually rotatablebutton secured to said shaft externally of the casing for rotating saidshaft, a cam secured to said shaft internally of the casing androtatable therewith, said cam engaging an edge of the outermost articleat one side of said stack as it rotates for advancing said article outsaid slot, indicator means comprising a disc rotatably mounted in saidcasing, below a viewing window in the casing and an operating connectioncomprising peripheral notches in the disc and an element rotatable withsaid shaft adapted to engage therewith to index successively the discforwardly with successive article dispensing rotations of said shaft andcam.

3. A dispenser for flat articles adapted to be arranged in a stackcomprising, an elongated substantially flat, main casing adapted to holda stack of the articles, said casing having an article exit slot at oneend thereof, spring means arranged to urge the stack in one directionwith the topmost article registering with said slot, a vertical shaftrotatably mounted in said casing, a manually rotatable button secured tosaid shaft externally of the casing for rotating said shaft, a discsecured to said shaft internally of the casing, said disc having aninner face and said spring means urging the top article against asection of said inner face of said disc, and cam means positionedadjacent said inner face of the disc and rotatable therewith andengaging said top article for advancing it out said slot.

4. A dispenser for razor blades comprising an elongated substantiallyflat main casing adapted to hold a stack of the blades therein, saidcasing including a top wall and a blade exit slot at one end, a springmeans for urging the stack of blades upwardly with the outer end of thetopmost blade registering with said slot, a dispensing means arranged atthe opposite end of the stack embodying a vertical shaft rotatablymounted in said casing and extending outwardly through said top wall, amanually rotatable button secured to said shaft externally of saidcasing for rotating said shaft, a disc secured to said shaft internallyof the casing, said spring means urging the inner end of the top bladeagainst a section of the inner face of said disc, a cam means arrangedat said inner face of the disc and rotatable therewith and engaging saidinner end of the topmost blade for advancing it out said slot, anindicator member rotatably mounted in the casing below said top wall,and an operating connection between said member and said dispensingmechanism for advancing said member in successive steps in accordancewith the successive blade dispensing operations, said top wall having awindow for viewing said indicator member thereby to determine the numberof blades in the stack.

5. A dispenser for razor blades comprising an elongated substantiallyflat main casing adapted to hold a stack of the blades therein, saidcasing including parallel top and bottom walls and a pair of parallelend walls, one of said end walls having a blade exit slot therein, saidtop wall having a viewing window therein, spring means for supportingsaid stack of blades and urging said stack upwardly with the uppermostblade registering with said slot, a vertical shaft rotatably supportedin said top wall and extending downwardly a distance in said casing, amanually rotatable push button connected with said shaft externally ofsaid casing for rotating said shaft, a disc having parallel upper andlower faces connected to said shaft internally of the casing, the upperface of said disc having a pair of diametrically opposed notchestherein, said spring means urging a portion of said uppermost blade intoengagement with the lower face of said disc, cam means connected withsaid shaft under said disc, said cam means engaging an inner end of saidtopmost blade for advancing it out said slot when said shaft is rotatedin one direction, a spring plate supported concentrically over said discand having radial ribs extending into said top Wall to prevent rotationof said spring plate, said spring plate having a peripheral lug thereonfor engaging the notches in said disc to prevent reverse rotation ofsaid disc, indicator means supported in said casing under said viewingwindow for indicating the number of blades to be dispensed, and meansfor advancing the indicator means each time a blade is dispensed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 591,846 10/97Kerr 221-232 2,473,812 6/49 Muros 221-2 2,572,737 10/51 Lehner 221-2682,926,673 3/60 Bernard 221-7 FOREIGN PATENTS 58,552 4/13 Austria.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS I. DEMBO, Examiner.

5. A DISPENSER FOR RAZOR BLADES COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLYFLAT MAIN CASING ADAPTED TO HOLD A STACK OF THE BLADES THEREIN, SAIDCASING INCLUDING PARALLEL TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AND A PAIR OF PARALLELEND WALLS, ONE OF SAID END WALLS HAVING A BLADE EXIT SLOT THEREIN, SAIDTOP WALL HAVING A VIEWING WINDOW THEREIN, SPRING MEANS FOR SUPPORTINGSAID STACK OF BLADES AND URGING SAID STACK UPWARDLY WITH THE UPPERMOSTBLADE REGISTERING WITH SAID SLOT, A VERTICAL SHAFT ROTATABLY SUPPORTEDIN SAID TOP WALL AND EXTENDING DONWARDLY A DISTANCE IN SAID CASING, AMANUALLY ROTATABLE PUSH BUTTON CONNECTED WITH SAID SHAFT EXTERNALLY OFSAID CASING FOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT, A DISC HAVING PARALLEL UPPER ANDLOWER FACES CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT INTERNALLY OF THE EASING, THE UPPERFACE OF SAID DISC HAVING A PAIR OF DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED NOTCHESTHEREIN, SAID SPRING MEANS URGING A PORTION OF SAID UPPERMOST BLADE INTOENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOWER FACE OF SAID DISC, CAM MEANS CONNECTED WITHSAID SHAFT UNDER SAID DISC, SAID CAM MEANS ENGAGING AN INNER END OF SAIDTOPMOST BLADE FOR ADVANCING IT OUT SAID SLOT WHEN SAID SHAFT IS ROTATEDIN ONE DIRECTION, A SPRING PLATE SUPPORTED CONCENTRICALLY OVER SAID DISCAND HAVING RADIAL RIBS EXTENDING INTO SAID TOP WALL TO PERVENT ROTATIONOF SAID SPRING PLATE, SAID SPRING PLATE HAVING A PERIPHERAL LUG THEREONFOR ENGAGING THE NOTCHES IN SAID DISC TO PREVENT REVERSE ROTATION OFSAID DISC, INDICATOR MEANS SUPPORTED IN SAID CASING UNDER SAID VIEWINGWINDOW FOR INDICATING THE NUMBER OF BLADES TO BE DISPENSED, AND MEANSFOR ADVANCING THE INDICATOR MEANS EACH TIME A BLADE IS DISPENSED.